Based on the latest data from the Commerce Department's Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA), the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that steel import permit filings for February totaled 1,651,000 net tons (NT), up 5.2 percent from the 1,569,000 MT permits recorded in January and unchanged from the final January import total of 1 NT 650,000
Finished steel import permit tonnage totaled NT 1,189,000 in February, down 4.8 percent from the final import volume of NT 1,249,000 in January. For the first two months of 2025 (including February SIMA approvals and final imports in January), total finished steel imports were 3,300,000 tons and 2,438,000 tons, down 37.9 percent and 38 percent respectively from the same period in 2025. The estimated finished steel import market share was 15 percent in February and stands at 15 percent year-to-date
.Steel imports with significant increases in February clearances compared to final January imports included structural pipe (up 41 percent), hot-rolled bars (up 31 percent), line pipe (up 31 percent), blooms, billets and slabs (up 15 percent), and wire rod (up 14 percent). Products with significant year-to-date increases over the same period in 2025 includes tin-free steel (up 15 percent and heavy fittings (up) 13 percent).
In February, the largest steel import permit applications came from South Korea (291,000 tons, up 2 percent from final imports in January), Canada (231,000 tons, up 6 percent), Brazil (226 000 tons, up 28 percent), Mexico (175,000 tons, down 26 percent) and Japan (127,000 tons, up 28 percent) In the first two months of 2026, the largest suppliers were South Korea (NT576,000, up 11 percent), Canada (NT450,000, down 60 percent) and Mexico (410). 000 nt, a decrease of 46 percent)
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